The Incomprehensible Truth
by meeeeera
Summary: After Voldemort's last attempt at taking over Hogwarts, Lily Evans is left with a choice- escape to the safety of the Muggle world, or remain at school and help defend it for generations to come...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I owe it all to Jo

**Chapter One:**

**Back To The Muggle World**

_Bright flashes of light whipped past her head and a roar of noise reached her ears. She turned and saw a masked face, black and twisted and gruesome, grow closer and closer to her. The body it was attached to raised an arm and green light was issued from the wand it held-_

"Lily, Lily wake up!"

Lily opened her eyes to see her best friend shaking her arm with wide worried eyes, and to feel the Hogwarts Express shaking as it rushed through the countryside. "What was happening? You looked terrified!"

Lily winced as she removed her arm from Veronica's grip, then smiled at her friend. "Don't worry Ver, it was just the usual. I'm never going to forget it, but don't worry about it."

Veronica's worried face disappeared and her blue eyes began to twinkle as she said coyly, "Oh really? I'll bet you a Galleon the only reason you don't want to forget it is because of the certain someone who saved you…"

"Oh, shut up Ver," said Lily, as she poked the dimple in her friend's cheek, and thought back to the moment when James Potter had leapt to her rescue, pushing her out of the way of the spell and then turning to duel the Death Eater himself.

"It's not like I had any choice- if I did I would have chosen someone else, anyone else to help me. You know, he used it as an excuse to ask me out again when we were in the hospital wing, being given shock potions."

She screwed up her face "'Come on Evans, I just saved your life. Isn't that a good enough excuse to go out with me?" Lily intoned in a voice at least two octaves below her usual tone.

"Very good Evans, I didn't know I sounded so manly," came a voice from the doorway. Lily's head snapped up. At the compartment door he stood, flanked by his friends, the Marauders, Remus, Peter and James' best friend, Sirius Black. As she made eye contact with James for a split second, his hand jumped to his black hair, ruffling it up, making it even messier than it originally was.

"Shove off Potter. I was only demonstrating what you ishould/i sound like by now. Unfortunately," she sighed dramatically, looking at Veronica, "I don't think you're quite there yet. Hey Remus," she added, looking at her only Marauder friend.

Sirius began to chuckle, his bark-like laugh resounding around the compartment, and Remus grinned too. They both stopped when James turned to glare at them.

"Maybe, Lily, we could have a talk some time, and you could tell me what I'd need to do to make you go out with me," James told her.

"Maybe if you just grew some brains, you'd figure out that going out with you is the last thing I would iever/i do!"

Veronica grimaced on behalf of James, her first friend at Hogwarts, as the bickering continued. The other Marauders were leaning back against the door, watching the scene their friends were creating.

"Maybe-" started James.

"NO, Potter, just leave!" snapped an enraged Lily.

Remus tapped James on the shoulder, "As funny as this is, I think we should get out of here, Prongs."

"Come on, Moony, what's a train trip without a little fun? And Evans here loves it, she just doesn't want to show it!"

Lily gave James her most venomous glare, and then turned to Veronica with a look of desperation.

"That's it, guys, up and out," Veronica said, standing up and taking out her wand. "You've got ten seconds to get out of here before we start using magic."

The boys just ignored Veronica, so Lily flicked her wand at them. A neat Trip Jinx had them all lying on the floor and a non-verbal _Aguamenti_ had them all drenched.

"Nice work Lil," said Veronica, as the Marauders picked themselves up from the floor and headed out the door, moaning about their wet clothes.

"Thanks," Lily smiled at her friend as she closed the door, "we'd better get changed soon, I can see London."

As the Hogwarts Express pulled in a Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Lily and Veronica grabbed their bags and cloaks and joined the crowd of people in the corridor waiting to depart the train. When the train stopped, there was a mad rush for the doors as the students ran to greet their parents on the platform.

Veronica spotted her parents straight away, and dragged Lily over to say hello. Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt were good friends of hers, and took a keen interest in Lily. She greeted them warmly, answering their questions, agreeing that the two girls should meet up in the holidays, and then noticing Remus waiting off to the side, she excused herself and went over to him.

"I'm sorry about what happened before," began Lily as she reached him.

"That's alright," said Remus. "It would have looked a tiny bit odd if you jinxed the others, and not me. James is jealous of me anyway, he'd love to have a proper conversation with you," he continued, as they both looked over at James and his parents. Remus was right; James was looking at them strangely.

"Don't worry about him," Lily said consolingly "he'll get over himself."

"Are you sure you won't go out with him just once, Lily? I mean, when you're yelling, your voices do chime together rather well..." asked Remus slyly.

"Not a chance," said Lily firmly, "there's Dad, I've got to go now."

She stood on her toes, gave Remus a hug then ran over to her father, who was waiting with a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"Dad!" Lily squealed as she squeezed her father.

"Good to see you, Lily," replied her father "let's go, your mother and Petunia are waiting in the car."

Lily linked arms with her father, who pulled her trunk and they walked together through the barrier back to the Muggle world again.

**Author's Note:** Heya

This is my very first fan fic, so if you're bothering to read it, I thank you

Please review this chapter, I'd love to know what you think!

xx


	2. Chapter 2

When Lily and her father reached their car, she was surprised to see three people waiting for her instead of two

When Lily and her father reached their car, she was surprised to see three people waiting for her instead of two. A rather large man was standing beside Petunia, holding her hand and cooing in her ear, and Lily eyed him warily.

Lily turned her attention from the sickening sight and ran to her mother instead. "Mum!" she cried, hugging her mother.

"Darling, we've missed you so much!" said her mother, stroking Lily's hair.

Lily then turned to her sister. "Tuney," she said, and moved to hug her sister, but Petunia shuddered and Lily stopped. It wasn't a real show of affection; they just had to appear sisterly in public.

"Um, Lils, this is Vernon Dursley, Tuney's… boyfriend."

Lily turned, incredulous, towards her mother, who nudged her and nodded towards Vernon. "Um, nice to meet you, Vernon," Lily stuttered, feeling very surprised. She had never imagined Petunia with a boyfriend. Her older sister was very immature. Especially towards Lily and her magic.

Vernon just grunted and nodded at Lily. Her father, seeming to sense the awkwardness of the moment said heartily, "Shall we go then?"

On the long trip home, Lily had a lot to think about.

Petunia and her new boyfriend.

James Potter trying to get her attention all the time.

Voldemort's latest attempt to take over Hogwarts.

Lily's duel with a Death Eater.

James Potter saving her from the said Death Eater.

The possibility that Hogwarts might close for the next year.

The fact that when she got home, there would most certainly be a letter addressed to her, bearing the Potter crest, and James Potter's signature.

Lily sighed and shut her eyes. She didn't want to have to think about any of it.

The sound of the car pulling into their gravel driveway was what woke Lily. Her father carried in her trunk as Lily stepped through the front door, looking at what she called home. Not much had changed since the last holiday, the carpets, furniture and pot plants were all the same. Yet there was something else, something Lily couldn't put her finger on.

"Welcome home Lily," said her mother, "do you need help with your trunks?"

"No, I can use magic now, Mum, don't worry about it," she replied.

"Oh yes, of course. It must be very exciting for you, sweetie. Do you think, after you've unpacked and all, that you could possibly… if it's not too much trouble…"

"Spit it out, Mum," said Lily, waiting.

"Could you help me fix up the kitchen?" asked her mother in a rush, "you see, the microwave blew up yesterday, and I don't want to have to call a repairman, they cost ever so much…"

"Sure thing," laughed Lily, as she led the way to the kitchen. A quick _Reparo_ directed at the remains of the microwave fixed the problem, and she hovered her trunks upstairs.

At the top of the stairs, Lily turned into the first door on the right. She could hear voices coming from her sister's room; obviously Vernon and Petunia were discussing whatever lovers discuss.

Her bedroom was as she had left it, plain white walls covered in band posters, both Muggle and wizarding, pale green carpet with a round white rug in the middle and a white desk in the corner.

The aspects of the room that made Lily love it so much were the white bookshelves lining the room, filled with any books she could lay her hands on, and the neat single bed in another corner of the room, covered in a frangipani bedcover.

It was her refuge, where she studied and managed to forget about anything she wanted. Lily walked over to her desk to put her shoulder bag down, smiled at the vase of lilies her mother had placed there and looked to the pile of paper next to her lamp.

On top was James' latest letter, probably written on the train. Lily didn't even bother to open it, she knew what it would say. Exactly what each of the ninety-seven letters had said before Lily stopped opening them. Lily sighed and shook her head. James Potter sure had persistence, if nothing else.

She turned to the day's edition of The Daily Prophet. On the front cover was yet another headline about the man styling himself as a Dark Lord, the Greatest Sorcerer in the World. This article was about the clean up activities happening at Hogwarts after the battle.

Lily shuddered, she could see quite clearly the great doors to the Entrance Hall bursting open, with Voldemort and his Death Eaters lined up, charging into the school-

"Lily? Dinner's almost ready, do you want to come down soon?"

Lily's mother's voiced floated up the stairs, along with the smell of roast chicken and vegetables baking in the now fully functioning kitchen.

"In a minute, Mum," Lily called down. She wanted to take a look over the rest of the newspaper. Lily turned the page and gasped. A huge picture of what was clearly a Muggle house stood out, with an enormous smoke skull over the top. Voldemort's Dark Mark stared at her from the newspaper, the great serpent tongue slithering towards her over and over again.

She quickly turned her gaze to the article, written by one Rita Skeeter. Lily remembered the girl, who graduated from Hogwarts three years before, as a lying manipulator.

"_A number of Muggle attacks by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has clearly demonstrated that no one is safe in these times of great peril, whether he be wizard or Muggle. Over the past week, no fewer than eight Muggles have been found murdered in their homes. It is not known if there is any connection between the attacks, or whether Muggle baiting is the new trend, but the Head of the Auror Department, Alastor Moody, did state that "each of the Muggles killed had some relation to a wizarding family, either as friends or family. If you do have Muggle friends or family, advise them to take caution, be aware of their surroundings and not make huge spectacles of themselves. Constant vigilance is the key"."_

Lily dropped the paper and ran downstairs. Voldemort's rise to power was very real to her, and at school, reminders of it constantly surrounded her. At home, she wanted to forget about Dark Wizards for a while and enjoy the time she had with her family. Sadly, this was not to be.

"Vernon darling, it will be fabulous!" gushed Petunia, "lots of people, food, presents and US! The union of us! Doesn't that sound WONDERFUL?"

"It most certainly does sweetums," replied Vernon, placing a very wet kiss on Petunia's cheek, "we'll have a grand outdoor wedding, and then a very romantic honeymoon. Don't worry Petunia, I've got that all planned out."

"Oh no," gasped Lily, "um, Petunia, Mum, can you come with me for a minute?"

She led them up to her room.

"Okay, I'm going to completely gloss over the fact that you didn't tell me you're engaged, Tuney, but I need to tell you something. You know I've mentioned this new Dark Lord, Voldemort. Well, he just attacked Hogwarts- no, don't interrupt," as her mother made shocked sounds, "he just attacked Hogwarts, and now there have been more Muggle attacks than ever! You can't have a huge wedding Tuney, he'll target you because I'm a witch!"

"What am I supposed to tell Vernon then?" asked Petunia, standing up.

"Whatever you want. Anything but the truth. He can't find out about us, you know he can't. We're a complete secret."

"Oh no, Lily, my dear. I'm having as big a wedding as I want. You see, being invisible doesn't leave you with a lot of power, does it?" Petunia sneered as she turned as stalked out of Lily's bedroom.


End file.
